Faith of My Fathers: on Homeland Security


Bombing useless targets in Vietnam destroyed US morale

When I was first on the Forrestal, every man in my squadron had thought Washington’s air war plans were senseless. The target list was so restricted that we had to go back and hit the same targets over and over again. It’s hard to get a sense that you are advancing the war effort when you are prevented from doing anything more than bouncing the rubble of an utterly insignificant target. When President Johnson ordered an end to Operation Rolling Thunder in 1968, the campaign was judged to have had no measurable impact on the enemy. Most of our pilots flying the missions believed that our targets were virtually worthless. In all candor, we thought our civilian commanders were complete idiots who didn’t have the least notion of what it took to win the war. I found no evidence in postwar studies of the Johnson administration’s political and military decision-making during the war that caused me to revise that harsh judgement.
Source: “Faith of My Fathers”, p. 185-6 Nov 9, 1999

Vietnam cost us confidence, but we’re still a good country

I once heard the Vietnam War described as “America’s fall from grace.” Disagreements about the purpose and conduct of the war as well as its distinction of being the first lost war in American history left some Americans bereft of confidence in American exceptionalism -- the belief that our history is unique and exalted and a blessing to all humanity. Not all Americans lost this faith.... For a time, our loss in Vietnam afflicted America with a kind of identity crisis. I am relieved today that America’s period of self-doubt has ended. America has a long, accomplished, and honorable history. We should never have let this one mistake, terrible though it was, color our perceptions forever of our country’s purpose. We were a good country before Vietnam, and we were a good country after Vietnam. In all of history, you cannot find a better one.
Source: “Faith of My Fathers”, p. 345-346 Nov 9, 1999

Vietnam was a worthy cause despite losing

My country had failed in Vietnam. There is much to regret about America’s failure. The reasons are etched in black marble on the Washington Mall. But we had believed the cause that America had asked us to serve in Vietnam was a worthy one, and millions who defended it had done so honorably.
Source: “Faith of My Fathers”, p. 348 Nov 9, 1999

  • The above quotations are from Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir, by John McCain, Mark Salter.
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2012 Presidential contenders on Homeland Security:
  Democrats:
Pres.Barack Obama(IL)
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Republicans:
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Rep.Paul Ryan(WI) 		Third Parties:
Green: Dr.Jill Stein(MA)
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Page last updated: Apr 16, 2013